For new readers, this story is based off of and is tied into several other pieces of mine. If you're not sure where to start, I'd suggest finding Bioshock Infinite: Unbroken, as well as its prequel Unbroken: Song of Sorrow and the continuation Unbroken: I'm Home. Thanks for checking it out.
Foreword: Due to technical difficulties, namely spotty internet connection and an overheating computer, this chapter was unavoidably delayed. Sorry for the delay.
"Oh my God…"
A horrified grimace twists Abigail's features as the thing sluggishly shambles into the corridor, she barely hearing Vivian's whispered voice as the wet, slopping sound the monster's footsteps make fill her ears.
The redhead knew coming in that there are horrors behind each and every one of these doors, but simply knowing that is one thing, and coming face to face with it is another; Abigail's young mind has difficulty comprehending what she's seeing as the thing leaves its cage. "How does this… what is this?!" Abigail recoils at the stomach turning sight of the creature, its body just now appearing from behind the metal security door.
And her squad is faring even worse than she is, if the disgusted gasps she's hearing from behind her and the look of fearful disbelief she catches on Vivian's expression is any indication. While it hadn't helped overly much, Abigail's squad mates lack the buffer of having encountered one like this before and knowing what awaited them. Glancing back, Abigail finds Mattie and Sean backing away slowly and shaking their heads at the sight.
"Least Viv an' Yoshiro's holdin' their ground…" Abigail focuses on the creature again after giving her friend and the old soldier a quick glance each. She's silently glad they've both had soldiering experience; Vivian's trembling a little but looks to be in control, and Yoshiro's shotgun is pointed at the creature without wavering, though his usually stern face shows a touch of confusion.
Abigail has to struggle to find anything in the creature as it becomes fully revealed that could suggest it was once ever human; its entire body is misshapen, looking less like a man and more like some sort of deep sea monstrosity, the sort that never sees the light of day. "Course… I wouldn't know what that's like…" Grimacing as she thinks it, Abigail shakes her head slowly; living in Columbia, one doesn't get much chance to see the ocean. There's nothing about the creature that would give Abigail any reason to think that it was anything but a monster cooked up by some madman's fevered nightmares, even the creature's eyes are misshapen, sunken, almost vertical slits.
The first thing Abigail's eyes were drawn to is the monster's arms. The limbs are impossibly long and thick, nearly coming down to the creature's knees with three tentacles sprouting from a small 'hand', curving like thick, slime-covered fingers and touching the floor. Suckers line each 'finger' and climb up the thing's arms, and water or something like it constantly flows down its body, leaving puddles where it steps and dripping from everywhere else.
The torso is hunched over, its spine visibly pushing through the skin of its back, and the creature's legs aren't dissimilar from its arms; they're also long and muscular, though these limbs have recognizable joints and end in narrow points, Abigail sure the creature's putting more of its weight on its arms than those tiny stumps. The thing is also completely hairless, and its gaping maw has no lips, just exposed gums and vicious, jagged teeth. The thing's mottled white, gray and bluish tinged skin brings to mind someone with sickness and fever.
And to make matters worse, the monster isn't alone; Abigail's breath catches in her throat as the sound of flapping wings and angry caws comes from another open door, and the thing with black, hooked claws and clumps of black feathers she'd seen last time stepping out with a dozen crows circling it. And Abigail shudders as it affixes its gaze on her, the mostly black with brown eyes filled with hate.
"Ah! Get away!"
Mattie's cry pulls Abigail's gaze from the tentacle creature and birdman, though she doesn't dare turn completely away from either of them. She can only spare a moment to look back over her shoulder, and Abigail's jaw tenses as she lays eyes on two more of the creatures.
The first is face to face with Mattie, though 'face' may be the wrong word; it's a burning, blackened, crumbling and reforming thing in the shape of a man, no face to speak of, yet it still manages to let loose an anguished moan. The second appears much like any worker from the factories, aside from the insane gleam in its eyes and one other, tiny detail; his body is covered in cracks which leak golden light, parts of him floating free of his body like a thin shell.
"Buckin' Bronco, Devil's Kiss…" Thinking to herself, Abigail slowly turns back to the first pair, "Undertow an' Murder of Crows. Hell's bells, this ain't goin' ta' be easy…" The slime-covered creature starts shuffling towards her, and Abigail raises her Hand Cannon, "Get re-grk!"
The tentacle horror lashes out the moment she speaks, the 'fingers' on one hand uncurling and whipping towards Abigail, two knocking Yoshiro away while the third snakes around her throat.
Gunfire and twisted, disturbed screams erupt in the dark, dusty asylum wing, hoots, shouts and cries of all sorts coming from the other cells, the monsters within stirred up by the commotion. While the fighting surrounds her, Abigail can only struggle against the tentacle wrapped around her throat while the other two begin encircling her arms, the slime-coated limbs trying to render her helpless. And no matter how hard she fights, Abigail's being dragged closer and closer to the slick, octopus-like monster, the young redhead gritting her teeth as she finds it's getting harder and harder to breathe.
"Get off me, ya' ugly son of a-!" A pained cry comes from Mattie as Abigail manages a curse, the young redhead managing to look back to see the flaming monster rake its fingers down the girl's arm. "C'mon… fight, damn you!"
Cursing again as loudly as she can, Abigail starts yanking her arms as hard as she can, dislodging the tentacle enough to bring her Hand Cannon to bear, "Have some of this, ya' squishy squid-thing!" The triple report of her revolver washes over Abigail, a triumphant smile appearing as her shots punch into the creature's chest. But the beast just howls as black ichor spews from the wounds, and the tentacled creature heaves forward, the momentary slack causing Abigail to nearly fall back; a jet of water erupts from its mouth, striking Abigail's hand with enough force to knock her weapon away and drawing a cry from her.
A mix of anger and panic surges up within Abigail, the tentacles tightening around her again and holding her fast; it's plain to see what's going to happen, the monster's gnashing jaws waiting for her. And the redhead starts thrashing, fighting to get free or at least bring her hand up, Murder of Crows coming to her fingertips, "Ain't goin' out like this, ya' here me, ya' bastard?!"
Then there's a flash of motion and a rush of wind, and Abigail's suddenly falling back; the tentacles are still wrapped around her, but all three have severed, black blood spraying on the floor where they writhe. It takes the young Vox a second to realize what happened; Yoshiro's standing over her with his blade, the old soldier having just used his Charge Vigor, the man bringing his Chinabroom Shtogun to bear as he fires into the beast. The blast knocks the monster back, but it takes two more to make it drop.
Looking around as she pulls the tentacles off of her, Abigail grimaces as she sees everyone else fighting one of the monsters; Vivian's facing the birdman and fending off the crows, Sean is struggling to put a dent in the cracked, rumbling creature's body, and Mattie's just trying to stay out of the flaming monster's reach.
"Yoshiro! Go help Sean an' Mattie!" Grabbing her gun, Abigail lurches to her feet and runs for Vivian and the bird creature, the pair a little farther down the hall. Her friend keeps backing away and firing, but her bullets just don't seem to find purchase. "Hey! Remember me?!"
The hateful bird creature turns as she yells, Abigail skidding to a halt at the edge of the crow swarm, snapping her Hand Cannon up and firing before the last word even leaves her mouth. But the birdman just stares at her with its hateful gaze, vanishing into the murder of crows as the bullet passes harmlessly. "Just like one of those damn Crows… ah, hell's bells…"
Abigail's eyes dart over to her friend as the creature reappears and advances on her; Vivian's scratched up plenty but otherwise seems alright, but she looks plenty relieved that the flapping wings and screeching birds aren't hounding her anymore. But now Abigail has to contend with the crows instead, cawing beaks and wicked talons quickly giving her a small collection of cuts herself as she fires again. But the Vigor test subject just vanishes whenever a bullet makes it past the birds.
"Come on!" Growling under her breath, Abigail tries to protect her face while reloading, "Viv! Just keep shootin! I'm goin' ta' try getting' close!"
"Okay!" The report of Vivian's Hand Cannon rises over the shrieking birds, Abigail firing as well while running, the two of them slowly thinning out the murder of crows.
"Abby, look out!" Sean's voice comes from behind, and Abigail barely catches something flying past from the corner of her eye; a flaming orb bounces near the bird creature, and it takes her a second to process what she's seeing.
"Devil's Kiss…? No!" The orb detonates next to the Murder of Crows test subject, drawing a howl from the monster. But there's a catch; all the circling, clawing crows are now shrieking in pain, each and every bird set on fire. "It burns!" Abigail cries out, the flames drawing pain across her features as her situation decidedly worsens, and she fires at the scorched bird creature in the desperate hope that this'll end it.
Some of her bullets find the flaming crows, some fly wide, but by some small miracle, the last finds its way into the monster's stomach, the cloud of black birds suddenly thinning as it shrieks. And Abigail dashes through the birds as the flames lick at her, her Hand Cannon going 'click' before she drops it and reaches for her sword, she barely hearing the rasping of the sword being pulled free or Vivian shouting for her to get away from it. All she can hear is the shrieks of the crows and the blood hammering in her ears.
She barely feels any resistance at all as she swings, the bird creature dropping to the floor with a 'thump' and the crows disperse the moment she makes contact. A second 'thump' sounds a moment later, and Abigail finds her gaze drawn down to look at her feet and into those hateful brown and black eyes. A shudder runs through her body as she kicks it away.
"Viv… are you al-gah!"
Something slams into the pecked, clawed and singed Abigail's chest, launching her towards the wall. She only just makes out the sucker-laden tentacle pulling away from her, the tentacle creature rising from the floor despite missing most of one hand and bleeding from several gaping chest wounds.
And then Abigail crashes hard into a security door, her head snapping back and slamming the back of her skull against the unyielding metal. She very nearly blacks out on impact, only the urgency of her situation and adrenaline pumping through her veins barely keeping Abigail conscious, but the blow to the head still throws her for a loop; the redhead's practically seeing stars, her vision swimming and her thoughts disjointed.
"Come on, Abby…" It's an effort to form the thought and even more so to speak, Abigail gritting her teeth as she tries to climb to her feet. She's still plenty woozy though, and for a second she thinks she can hear a voice, whispering to her from beyond the door.
"Huh," pushing against the security door to rise, Abigail's unfocused green eyes wander over to her left, "there's that elevator…" But it's all too much; Abigail's legs give out beneath her, and the redhead blacks out as she slumps forward. The last thing she sees is Vivian lifting the tentacle horror into the air with her Vigor, Bucking Bronco immobilizing the monster as she fires into it over and over.
"Abby… Abby! Abigail, wake up!"
Abigail's eyelids flutter open as a voice shouts her name, a pained moan slipping past her lips; the back of her head aches something fierce, and her chest feels like someone tried to cave it in with a sledgehammer. The redhead's eyes slowly come into focus as she sluggishly blinks; Abigail doesn't know how she got this way, but she's lying on her back on the cold, dusty stone floor, and she can sort of make out a pair of shapes looking down on her from above.
"Where… am I?" No sooner does the thought cross her mind than it all comes back to Abigail, the young Vox groaning as she remembers the tentacled monster and the birdman, and how she'd been unceremoniously hurled into a wall by a solid blow.
"Abby?" One of the shapes speaks up again, its voice sounding awful familiar. It takes a measure of effort, but Abigail manages to focus her eyes on the speaker, and a smile spreads across her lips as her eyes finally come into focus. Vivian's staring down at her with worry plain in her brown eyes.
"Hey, Viv… Sean… are ya' okay?"
"Thank God…" Vivian sags as she heaves a deep sigh, "We're all okay, Abby. You took the worst of it… you've been out for a couple minutes now."
"I'll be… be…" Abigail's vision suddenly swims and nausea wells up from within as she pushes herself up into a sitting position, the redhead falling back before being caught by Vivian and Sean, the pair easing her to the ground. "Uh… guess I'll be needin' a minute…"
"Rest." A stern voice comes from Abigail's right, the woozy young woman glancing over to find Yoshiro standing nearby with his Chinabroom Shotgun at the ready and he eying the remaining cells, "We still have time."
"Okay…" Nodding slowly, Abigail lets loose another pained moan; she can feel the bump on the back of her head growing, and she doesn't have much choice but to rest on it right now. "Viv… what happened?"
Vivian frowns at Abigail, and only now does the redhead notice the black ichor splattered across her friend's blue and red uniform and just how badly the crows' talons had cut her. Vivian's uniform is torn through in several places on her arms and parts of her face are scratched up. "After you cut down that… crow creature, the rest of us fought off the others…"
Abigail listens quietly as Vivian briefly describes the squad's actions: she had launched the waterlogged, octopus-like creature aloft with Bucking Bronco and fired into it repeatedly; Mattie had managed to keep the burning man away with blasts of Undertow, the water jet snuffing out the flames and solidifying it long enough for the young sniper to harm the mass of flaming coals; and Sean and Yoshiro took the fragmented creature apart, the fire from their Shotgun and Repeater not giving it enough time to reassemble as more and more floating pieces were blown away.
"Still… those two are plenty banged up, and Mattie's burns are going to need looking at."
"Not ta' mention your own injuries…" A grimace crosses Abigail's face as Vivian finishes, "I should 'ave told ya' about these monsters…"
"Ah, it's fine." Sean pipes up, his lilting brogue in sharp contrast to this dreary, oppressive place, "Just what in the hell were those things, anyway?" A quiet murmur of assent comes from the others.
A relieved sigh escapes Abigail, both for her friends and comrades being safe and sound, and that they don't seem to blame her for their run in with these monsters, "I think these things are… were folks Fink tested his Vigors on. They must've been given a whole heap of the stuff, too…" As she tries to explain without mention of ADAM or anything of the like, Abigail manages to sit up successfully this time. Her strength's been returning steadily since she woke, and the young redhead can hardly believe she didn't notice how weak she'd felt before.
"Okay… enough talkin'." Looking past Vivian, Abigail spies the door at the end of the wing, light still filtering pouring out of the viewport, "I need that door open. Sean, ya' still 'ave your pa-"
"Open? I can do open, boss." A mischievous grin appears on Sean's face, the young Irish lad unslinging his RPG and leveling it at the door.
"No-!" Abigail cries out, but it's too late; Sean's already fired, the rocket spiraling down the corridor and exploding against the solid steel security door. The blast kicks up a cloud of smoke and dust, a billowing wall that rushes back towards them and sweeps past, leaving Abigail and her people to choke on the rocket's residue.
"Sean! Your pack, not rocket!" Abigail climbs to her feet hesitantly as she coughs into her glove.
"Oh… oh! Uh… sorry, Abby…"
"Just… just get down there an' get it ready…" Groaning, Abigail starts for the door while massaging the back of her head, the others following suit once the cloud of dust and smoke dissipates.
The rocket left little more than a dent and a blast mark where it struck the door, not nearly enough to blow the thick metal barrier out of the way. What it had managed was to destroy much of the fine wood paneling around the door and parts of the angel statues to either side, each missing the wing and arm closest to the blast as well as bits and pieces all over scored or gouged by shrapnel.
Abigail's head still throbs as she makes it to the door, Sean and Yoshiro having arrived ahead of her and already at work; Sean's pack held a pair of hand drills and several sticks of dynamite, the pair punching holes in the stone blocks surrounding the door and sliding the explosives into them. And Abigail can't help but worry as she peers into the comfortably decorated cell, "Please don't let her be hurt by… huh?"
Abigail's mumbled supplication is left hanging; inside, the redhead spies the middle-aged caretaker staring back at her, the spinster kneeling beside the bed with hands clasped as if in prayer.
"W-why?!" Sputtering, the spinster shrinks from Abigail, terror in her voice and demeanor, "Why have you come back?! Don't you understand? She can't… she can't leave here!"
"She can't be stayin', neither!"
Abigail doesn't know why she's shouting back through the glass, and she doesn't care, either, "I'm takin' her away from here! She don't deserve ta' be locked up with these monsters, like some… some freak!" The spinster appears taken aback by Abigail's sudden outburst, and she gives the woman a long, hard look, "We're goin' ta' blast this door open; nothin's goin' ta' change that."
"But…" The spinster's eyes dart to the sleeper on the bed for a split second, "But the Prophet…"
"The Prophet's dead!" Abigail damn near roars through the glass, the middle-aged caretaker jumping in fright, "Any of the Founders learn 'bout her, an' they'll try ta' use her, no tellin' how!"
"Who are you talking about, Abigail?" A quiet, questioning voice comes from nearby, Mattie stepping close and trying to peer through the window while removing her eye patch, her dark eyes shining with curiosity. But Abigail shakes her head, keeping her attention on the spinster.
"If… if you blast the door, miss… you'll hurt her!"
"Then don't force me ta' do that…" The tone of her voice softens, Abigail's own fears over her plan coming to the forefront of her thoughts, "Open the door."
She holds her breath as the spinster stares back at her, the woman nervously wringing her hands in silence; Abigail's played her last, impromptu card, her entire argument desperately come up with on the fly or taken from their last encounter. She hadn't expected the caretaker to be inside at all. And the silence between them stretches on, Abigail silently pleading with the spinster, at least until a hand on her shoulder pulls Abigail away from the viewport. "Abby, it's ready."
"Thanks, Viv…" Nodding slowly, Abigail looks back through the window, "Last chance; are ya' goin' ta' open up, or am I goin' ta' do it for ya'?" Another terrified look crosses the spinster's face, Abigail shrugging when the caretaker doesn't answer. "Okay…"
"W-wait! Do you… do you swear not to hurt her?"
"Of course!" Abigail rests her hands on the lower lip of the circular window, a tiny, cautious hope flickering to life within her.
The spinster seems to shrink somehow as her shoulders sag, a look of surrender about her, "If… if only you come in… I'll…" The woman trudges around the bed and up to the security door, lifting her head only to peer into Abigail's eyes before looking away again. A loud 'clunk' sounds a moment later.
"Thank ya', miss…" Moving out of the way as the door swings outward, Abigail hesitantly steps onto the plush, dark green carpet and into the room as she whispers her thanks. But her gaze quickly turns from the spinster and the lavish decorations to the figure on the bed, Abigail slowing with each step she takes until she's looking right at the sleeper.
"It… it really is her…"
Lying in bed and still very much asleep is Elizabeth, the Lamb of Columbia still looking healthy and whole, aside from her partly missing little finger. She's just as Booker's memories showed Abigail, Elizabeth dressed in the same white blouse with blue cuffs and sailor collar and her long hair tied back in a ponytail, the silver thimble on her finger shining in the light.
Kneeling at Elizabeth's bedside, Abigail finds she doesn't know what to say, not in the slightest; she's been working up to this moment for the better part of a year, yet she can't find the words now that they're finally face to face. All she can think of is that she and her squad have finally done it, but there's little satisfaction in the thought for Abigail; they still have to escape first.
Tentatively, Abigail reaches for Elizabeth and caresses the sleeping girl's cheek with the back of her hand, a bittersweet smile touching her lips as something finally comes to mind, "We're getting' ya' out of here, Elizabeth… I can't promise ya' much of anythin', but at least you'll be out…" But there's little time for sentimentality, Abigail rising after a moment and turning to the terrified caretaker, "Ya' took care of her all this time, why don't ya' come with us? She'll need ya'…"
"Y-You'd let me stay with her?"
"Sure… of course." Abigail nods, trying to look as reassuring as possible.
"I… umm… o-okay…"
"Great. Let's get goin'."
Abigail spends the next several minutes picking up the sleeping Elizabeth with the spinster's hesitant assistance; Abigail ends up carrying Elizabeth piggyback style, the girl's arms draped around the redhead's neck. "An' now comes the hard part…" The young Vox grimaces as she starts for the exit; Elizabeth's not particularly heavy, but Abigail isn't especially strong either, and she's plenty banged up.
When she steps out the door, Abigail's entire squad aside from Vivian gasps or stares as they spot her, and she can't blame them; who'd expect her to step out of the cell with the Lamb on her back? And Yoshiro's glaring at the sleeping girl on her back, Abigail giving him a hard look in return; the older soldier still holds a grudge against Booker and Elizabeth for what happened to Daisy. "Let's get goin'…"
Yoshiro growls something under his breath, but the old soldier nods after a moment, much to Abigail's relief. "Viv…" Turning to her Vivian as she steps close, Abigail gives her friend a small, lopsided grin, "Take our people an' the lady here up ahead; I'll be right behind… don't want to risk this girl getting' caught in a crossfire…"
"Sure… you heard her, move out!" Barking orders, Vivian stops before marching down the hallway, a furtive smile on her lips, "You did it, Abby. I can hardly believe it…"
"Me neither, Viv…" Abigail returns the smile, and Vivian turns and hurries back down the hall to join the rest of the squad, leaving the young Vox to slowly follow.
But as she makes it about halfway down the hall, high-pitched squeal fills the quiet asylum wing and drawing a wince from Abigail. And the slightly husky voice that comes from an unseen speaker fills Abigail with dread, "Well, if it isn't the little redheaded tramp. I thought I'd finished you last time we met, but it would seem you're becoming far too resilient lately."
"Mercier…" Gritting her teeth, Abigail peers around, trying to find the speaker, "Where are ya' hidin', ya' lousy…"
"Oh, I think you have bigger problems to worry about." Malevolent chuckling fills the wing before Mercier's voice disappears, and Abigail can't help the feeling of dread that starts to tie knots in the pit of her stomach. It doesn't take long for her to realize the woman from Rapture's meaning, either; the sound of the cells unlocking come one after the other, echoing down the hall.
"Oh, son of a..." Panic fills the young redhead. Vivian and the others are at the far end of the hall already, no chance of her getting there safely with Elizabeth on her back, and Abigail looks around frantically for something, anything that could get them out of this. But all she can find is the one thing she hadn't wanted to use in the first place, the elevator leading up to Comstock's quarters. "Viv! Get out of here, an' tell Wei ta' bring the barge up top!"
She can't hear Vivian's reply as she runs to the elevator, hitting the button to call it as howls and shrieks come from the opening security doors, the redhead hoping, praying that the elevator car is down here rather than where she'd left it. And to her immense relief, the doors open a moment later, just as ten more of the Vigor-born monsters trudge out of their cells and towards her. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"
The doors begin to close as Abigail pounds on the button, time seeming to move in slow motion as she hears the creatures getting closer and closer; a wet, slopping sound catches her ear the most, renewing the young woman's dread as she imagines another of the octopus-like beasts squeezing into the car with her and Elizabeth.
But the doors close just as a shape fills the doorway, the elevator shut up tight and Abigail damn near collapsing against the wall, gasping for air; she hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath this whole time. "We're alright…" Still leaning against the rich wood paneling as the elevator rises, Abigail glances over her shoulder to find her passenger still asleep and undisturbed, "Glad you're takin' this so well…"
Stepping out into the Prophet's bedroom once the elevator doors open, Abigail slowly makes her way back to the study and the broken out window she and her squad came in the last time, the redhead starting to slow down as her injuries catch up with her. "We're almost outta here, don't ya' worry… oh, come on!" Frustration's thick in her voice as the telltale whine of a gunship's engines comes from outside, a pair of Founder ships appearing the moment she steps inside.
"So you escaped the beasts. You didn't really think that was the end of it, did you?" The woman herself stands on one of the gunships, holding a microphone as half dozen blue-clad soldiers prepare to jump.
"The hell do ya' want with me, huh?!" Shouting back as she backs away, Abigail turns to run the way she came; she doesn't know where she's running, but Abigail won't let that woman get her hands on Elizabeth.
The faintly husky voice begins to laugh again as she runs, "I simply cannot allow you to have that one. But don't fret, girl; I've ordered my men to capture you, unharmed. So long as you don't resist." More laughter comes from over the PA, the sound chilling Abigail to the core.
Her mind racing as she rushes back into Comstock's living quarters, Abigail doesn't know where she's running, only that she has to get far away; there's still the other elevator, as much of a longshot as that might be. But as she turns another corner, Abigail nearly jumps out of her skin; a flickering shape floats right before her eyes, distorting whatever's behind it. "A… a Tear?"
And the Tear suddenly opens, swallowing Abigail and Elizabeth whole, leaving only a startled cry.
?
"Gah!" Abigail grunts as she lands hard on soft green carpet, the Tear having deposited her wherever this is a few feet off the ground. And she can't keep her balance with Elizabeth on her back, Abigail staggering forward a few feet before falling flat on her face.
"Least the floor's comfy…" Mumbling into the carpet, Abigail wearily lifts her head and blows aside a lock of hair that'd gotten into her eyes. Taking stock after a long moment, Abigail looks up to find walls with swirling patterns of greens and blues, the room's furniture upended and in disarray. But something else catches her eye, Abigail falling silent and completely forgetting about her surroundings as she realizes she's not alone.
A woman stands in the doorway directly before her, Abigail only able to make out a black skirt and shoes, the clothing unlike anything from Columbia. And as she pushes herself up slowly, Abigail can barely believe her eyes as she focuses on the woman's face; long, loose black curls frame the woman's face and contrasts with her alabaster skin, her ruby red lips standing out. But it's those deep blue eyes that Abigail can't help but stare at, eyes she would recognize anywhere.
The woman looks unnerved, though she manages to sound anything but. "Who are you…? No… HOW are you here?"
Abigail can only stammer as she stares back, "E-Elizabeth?"
Author's Note: How many of you thought that Abigail wouldn't find Elizabeth in the cell, after reading this chapter's title? It took me a while to work out how to describe the Undertow creature, but given how mutated some of the Splicers in Bioshock 2 looked (not to mention the concept art of the Aquatic Splicer, which I did look at a lot), I think it came out pretty in-line with what ADAM can do.
Now, what exactly do you think happened at the end, after Abigail and Elizabeth fell through the Tear? Is that really Elizabeth she's looking at, and if so, how do you think this is possible? Remember, Tears make everything more complicated.
I've given the chapter several lookovers due to the delay, but I'll give it another look later. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.